St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-01-06
RAILROAD FARES.
BrGttIeb0ro Phoeniz.

The Central Vermont railroad has
made a move in the right direction i'm
its reduction of passenger fares as else
where announced in this issue. The
regular passenger tariff remains the
same, but the reduction takes a shape
of a reduced rate on return tickets be-
tween stations, making the rate for
round trips about three cents per mile,
while mileage tickets are sold at the
rate of about two cents per mile.
These are rates of travel with which
no reasonable fault can be found so
far as they go, and we are sorry that
they seem to be confined to the main
lines of the cOmpany's roads and not
to apply to leased lines, so that Brat
tleborO and nearby towns get no di-
rect benefit from them.
When we consider that local fares
from Brattleboro in every direction
are fixed at the rate of four cents or
over per mile, it seems strange to
learn from the last report of the Mas
sachusetts railroad commissioners that
the average rate of fares on the roads
in that state is less than two cents q
mile. The average rate on the Con-
necticut River road is one of the high
est in the state-2.4 cents per. nlile.
The average rate on the Providence 81
Worcester is 2.0S cents, on the Boston
g. Lowell 2.04 cents, on the Boston &
Albany I.S4 cents, on the Fitchburg
l 83 cents, on the Old Colony l.7O cents,
and so On-the Old Colony rates being
the lowest in the list. 1t would be in
teresting to know whether the rates of
travel i'm Vermont do not rank with
the highest which the people of any
eastern state have to pay. In any
case it seems to us that the time has
come when the people and newspapers
ought to begin to discuss the subject
in an intelligent way, and when a
move may properly be made to secure
reduction of rates to correspond with
those which our Massachusetts and
New York neighbors pay.
The answer will be, we know, that
there are not so many people to ride
i'm Vermont as in Massachusetts and
New York. This point we concede,
and we recognize the fact that the
rates in thinly- settled districts must
necessarily be higher than in those
which furnish people enough to crowd
every train. But conversely it is
equally true that low rates encourage
travel, and when the habit of travel is
once established, the advantage is all
on the side of the railroads; for when
good local passenger traffic is once
acquired, it is the tirmest and surest
of all sources of income. The New
York elevated roads never made so
much money as since they reduced
their fares to uniform rate of five
cents the day through.
We do not expect the Vermont rail-
roads to carry passengers at as low
rate as do those which run in and out
of Boston with fifty or IA hundred trains
Il day packed to suffOcation, but it is
an open question with the arguments
all on one side as to whether uni
form tariff rate to all points in YER
mont of say three cents per mile would
not SO stimulate travel as to bring
more money to the companies than
those rates which now prevail. If a
train is to be run it may as we'll carry
a hundred passengers as fifty, and the
cost will be no more.
An essential point at the start i'll the
reduction of fares, as the Phoenix has
repeatedly pointed out, is to abolish
the free pass abuse and let everybody
pay a fair average rate for riding. We
venture to suggest to the new board of
railroad commissioners that one of the
best pieces of work which they can do
for the public interest in the coming
two years is to carefully investigate
this whole subject of rates of railroad
fares and report upon it in full, with
recommendations, to the Legislature.